Anthroprophh - Outside The Circle

£20.99

In an era where the word ‰Û÷psych‰۪ itself is fast being overused to the point of meaninglessness, there are certain seers who can always be relied upon to brandish an artistic insight into third-eye salvation that departs from its obsessive origins to offer trashed transcendence above and beyond the physical form. One such is Paul ‰Û÷Prof‰۪ Allen, guitar guru and the mastermind of Anthroprophh, whose second album Outside The Circle‰۪ is a dizzying psychic voyage that exists in, around and at all points of the eternal amplified axe-worship continuum.

Anthroprophh began in earnest after ‰Û÷Prof‰۪s departure from Bristolian cult The Heads, in whose auspices he had made a number of head-spinning records that surfed a haphazard psychic spiral from an overflowing ashtray to the stars. Yet ‰Û÷Outside The Circle‰۪, the second album from the trio he formed with the Big Naturals duo of Gareth Turner and Jesse Webb, sees him steadfastly affirming his own wayward path through a vivid aural terrain of garage-birthed gnarl, FX pedal euphoria and inhospitable drone-vortexes. From the sci-fi doom-out of the appropriately-titled ‰Û÷Space Box Zonk Machine‰۪ via the unnerving primitive electronicaåÊof ‰Û÷Gottmelt‰۪ to the early-Monster Magnet-damaged finale ‰Û÷See‰۪, no sacred stone is left unturned here. Yet at all times ‰Û÷Prof‰۪‰۪s guitar rages through the ether, all banshee howls and fiery tumult; a kaleidoscopic union between Helios Creed and the Velvet Underground of ‰Û÷I Heard Her Call My Name‰۪.

‰Û÷Outside The Circle‰۪ resides at a moment whereby fifty years of psychedelic culture and esoteric art messily collide and morph into an ornery and intimidating new elixir. From Terry-Nutkins-alikes to fresh-faced ingenues, few freaks åÊcan remain impervious to this peerless display of frontier-destroying, mind-melting malevolence.Ladies and gentlemen, witness a new monolith.